“Today I refuse to stress myself out about things I cannot control or change.”

Ten Books That Shall Keep You Stress-free in 2020!

Abhishek Shah
11 min readJan 14, 2020

Despite the fact that stress has adverse effects on our life, we still deny admitting that this could be a mental disorder. Leading a stressful life hinders our efficiency and lessens our ability to live a healthy and happy life. Being stressed, you may fall sick more often, can feel grumpy and even irritated too. Our hectic schedules and a number of responsibilities have greatly contributed to this condition and it is important to know the ways that could alleviate stressful conditions. Where meditation could decrease the level of stress, indulging in physical activities is another way to get rid of it.

Here are the 10 books that may help you to turn down the stress music to enhance your life:

1. The Stress-Proof Brain: Master Your Emotional Response to Stress Using Mindfulness and Neuroplasticity

“For people suffering from stress, this book is a godsend.” — Kristin Neff, PhD, author of Self-Compassion

Modern times are stressful — and it’s killing us. Unfortunately, we can’t avoid the things that stress us out, but we can change how we respond to them. In this breakthrough book, a clinical psychologist and neuroscience expert offers an original approach to help readers harness the power of positive emotions and overcome stress for good.

Stress is, unfortunately, a natural part of life — especially in our busy and hectic modern times. But you don’t have to let it get in the way of your health and happiness. Studies show that the key to coping with stress is simpler than you think — it’s all about how you respond to the situations and things that stress you out or threaten to overwhelm you.

The Stress-Proof Brain offers powerful, comprehensive tools based in mindfulness, neuroscience, and positive psychology to help you put a stop to unhealthy responses to stress — such as avoidance, tunnel vision, negative thinking, self-criticism, fixed mindset, and fear. Instead, you’ll discover unique exercises that provide a recipe for resilience, empowering you to master your emotional responses, overcome negative thinking, and create a more tolerant, stress-proof brain.

This book will help you develop an original and effective program for mastering your emotional brain’s response to stress by harnessing the power of neuroplasticity. By creating a more stress tolerant, resilient brain, you’ll learn to shrug off the small stuff, deal with the big stuff, and live a happier, healthier life.

2. The Stress Solution: The 4 Steps to Reset Your Body, Mind, Relationships and Purpose

“Small changes make a big difference — we can all benefit from reading this” — Jamie Oliver

In The Stress Solution, Rangan offers simple and achievable interventions to help you re-set your life, offering simple tools for how to cope with modern life, including:

· How to design your morning routine effectively
· How to keep a touch diary
· How to mute your digital world
· How to eat the alphabet

Packed with personal accounts and patient cases, this book will become your blueprint on how to live stress-free in the modern world.

“Life’s constant pressures can get to much. This book will help you stay calm and sane in this chaotic, busy world” — Amelia Freer, author of Cook. Nourish. Glow

3. Stress-Proof: The Scientific Solution to Protect Your Brain and Body — and Be More Resilient Every Day

Discover simple, science-based strategies for beating stress at its own game

When’s the best time to exercise — and how much is too much?
Which foods fortify the brain, and which do the opposite?
How can we use music, movement, and motivation to boost our rational brain and keep our cool no matter what life throws our way?

Short bursts of stress are an inevitable part of modern life. But how much is too much? Research is uncovering the delicate balance that can turn a brief stressful episode into systemic overload, eventually leading to inflammation, anxiety, depression, and other chronic health issues.

This practical and groundbreaking guide reveals seven paths to fighting the effects of stress — to strengthen our natural defences so that our minds remain sharp, and our bodies resilient, no matter what life throws at us.

Each chapter examines a common stress agent — including inflammation, an out-of-sync body clock, cortisol levels, and emotional triggers — and presents simple ways to minimize its harmful effects with changes in diet, exercise, and other daily habits — including surprising hacks involving music, eye movements, body temperature, daily routine, and more.

Translating cutting-edge scientific findings into clear and simple advice, Stress-Proof is the ultimate user’s guide for body, mind and well-being.

4. The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It

A surprising new view of stress — one that reveals the upside of stress, and shows us exactly how to capitalize on its benefits.

You hear it all the time: stress causes heart disease; stress causes insomnia; stress is bad for you! But what if changing how you think about stress could make you happier, healthier, and better able to reach your goals? Combining exciting new research on resilience and mindset, Kelly McGonigal, PhD, proves that undergoing stress is not bad for you; it is undergoing stress while believing that stress is bad for you that makes it harmful. In fact, stress has many benefits, from giving us greater focus and energy to strengthening our personal relationships.

McGonigal shows readers how to cultivate a mindset that embraces stress and activate the brain’s natural ability to learn from challenging experiences. Both practical and life-changing, The Upside of Stress is not a guide to getting rid of stress, but a toolkit for getting better at it — by understanding, accepting, and leveraging it to your advantage.

5. Stress Less, Accomplish More: Meditation for Extraordinary Performance

“We meditate to get good at life, not to get good at meditation.” — Emily Fletcher

In our high-stress, overworked lives, we think the answer to accomplishing more is to do more. But the best advantage we can give ourselves is to take a mental break — to spend a few minutes of the day giving the body and brain rest. Did you know that a brief meditation can offer rest that’s five times deeper than sleep? When you make time to practice the Z Technique this book teaches, you’ll actually be more productive than if you took an hour-and-a-half nap or had a cup of coffee.

A leading expert in meditation for high performance, Emily Fletcher has taught meditation at numerous global corporations, including Google, Barclays Bank, and Viacom, to help their employees improve their focus and increase their productivity levels. With Stress Less, Accomplish More, anyone can get the benefits of her 15-minute twice-daily plan. Emily specifically developed the Z Technique for working people with busy lives. Now, you can learn to recharge anywhere, anytime — at home or at your desk. All you need is a few minutes and a chair (no apps, incense, or finger cymbals required).

This is not just another meditation book. In Stress Less, Accomplish More, Emily teaches a powerful trifecta of Mindfulness, Meditation, and Manifesting to improve your personal and professional performance, clarity, health, and sleep. You’ll learn how to cultivate Mindfulness through brief but powerful exercises that will help you stop wasting time stressing. Plus, you’ll get Manifesting tools to help you get crystal clear on your personal and professional goals for the future.

Filled with fascinating real-life transformations, interactive exercises, and practical knowledge, Stress Less, Accomplish More introduces you to a revelatory daily practice and shows you how to make it work for your modern life.

6. Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle

“Essential reading.” — Bustle • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BOOKRIOT

Burnout. Many women in America have experienced it. What’s expected of women and what it’s really like to be a woman in today’s world are two very different things — and women exhaust themselves trying to close the gap between them. How can you “love your body” when every magazine cover has ten diet tips for becoming “your best self”? How do you “lean in” at work when you’re already operating at 110 percent and aren’t recognized for it? How can you live happily and healthily in a sexist world that is constantly telling you you’re too fat, too needy, too noisy, and too selfish?

Sisters Emily Nagoski, PhD, and Amelia Nagoski, DMA, are here to help end the cycle of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Instead of asking us to ignore the very real obstacles and societal pressures that stand between women and well-being, they explain with compassion and optimism what we’re up against — and show us how to fight back. In these pages you’ll learn

• what you can do to complete the biological stress cycle — and return your body to a state of relaxation
• how to manage the “monitor” in your brain that regulates the emotion of frustration
• how the Bikini Industrial Complex makes it difficult for women to love their bodies — and how to defend yourself against it
• why rest, human connection, and befriending your inner critic are keys to recovering and preventing burnout

With the help of eye-opening science, prescriptive advice, and helpful worksheets and exercises, all women will find something transformative in these pages — and will be empowered to create positive change. Emily and Amelia aren’t here to preach the broad platitudes of expensive self-care or insist that we strive for the impossible goal of “having it all.” Instead, they tell us that we are enough, just as we are — and that wellness, true wellness, is within our reach.

7. Rhythms of Renewal: Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose

Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose

As a society, we are in the throes of a collective panic attack. Anxiety and loneliness are on the rise, with 77% of our population experiencing physical symptoms of stress on a regular basis. We feel pressure chasing careers, security, and keeping up. We worry about health, politics, and many other complexities we can’t control. Eventually we find our minds spinning, trying to cope or manage a low hum of anxiety, unlike ever before.

But it doesn’t have to stay this way.

Rebekah draws from her own battle with depression and anxiety and shares a pathway to establish four life-giving rhythms that quiet inner chaos and make room for a flourishing life. By taking time to rest, restore, connect, and create, you will discover how to:

  • Take charge of your emotional health and inspire your loved ones to do the same
  • Overcome anxiety by establishing daily habits that keep you mentally and physically strong
  • Find joy through restored relationships in your family and community
  • Walk in confidence with the unique gifts you have to offer the world

8. The End of Stress: Four Steps to Rewire Your Brain

“If your life is hard because of stress…this book is for you! Don Joseph Goewey creates a clear, simple, calming pathway that will move you from chaos to peace of mind.” — Jim Hora

There was an ancient Greek philosopher named Diogenes who wandered about in search of an honest human being. He rarely found one. If he’d gone searching for happy human beings at peace with themselves, he’d have gotten the same dismal result. We’re living stressful lives.

Ask yourself, when was the last time you genuinely felt joy, when you genuinely felt happy and at peace. Most people can’t remember the last time. It’s been too long.

Stress has become our brain’s autopilot making us react to life fearfully. In business it’s the fear of failing, in relationships it’s the fear of rejection, and within yourself it’s the fear of not being good enough.

THE END OF STRESS shows you how to liberate yourself from stress and anxiety to live every day in the light of peace and happiness, succeeding at life at every level that matters to you.

9. Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks

‘Every once in a while a book comes along that completely transform that field -this is that book for anxiety’

If you’re tired of just managing your anxiety and want a powerful natural solution, then apply the ‘Dare’ technique as explained in Barry McDonagh’s latest book.

Based on hard science and over 10 years helping people who suffer from anxiety, Barry McDonagh shares his most effective technique in this new book. The DARE technique can be used by everyone, regardless of age or background, to live a life free from anxiety or panic attacks.

In this step-by-step guide you will discover how to:

  • Stop panic attacks and end feelings of general anxiety.
  • Face any anxious situation you’ve been avoiding (driving/flying/shopping etc.).
  • Put an end to anxious or intrusive thoughts.
  • Use the CORRECT natural supplements to relieve anxiety.
  • Boost your confidence and feel like your old self again.
  • Fall asleep faster and with less anxiety each night.
  • Live a more bold and adventurous life again.

IMPORTANT: THIS IS MUCH MORE THAN JUST A BOOK

It also comes with a free App for your smartphone as well as four audios for quick anxiety relief. With these new tools you can apply the DARE Response in any situation that makes you anxious (e.g. driving/shopping/travelling). Help is now with you wherever you go!

10. The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxiety: The 8-Week Solution to Help You Manage Anxiety, Worry & Stress

Reduce daily anxiety with a renewed approach to mindfulness

Current research has proven that mindfulness is an effective way to reduce and relieve anxiety. The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxiety delivers practical strategies for applying mindfulness to the daily events that cause anxiety and stress.

From basic skills building to real-life application, The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxiety outlines simple techniques that are specially designed to replace anxiety with peace and wellbeing. Even those with no prior experience will find that the practical exercises outlined in The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxiety provide effective and lasting relief from the physical and emotional effects of anxiety.

Presented in a straightforward, easy-to-navigate format, The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxiety offers:

  • A well organized 8-week program for applying mindfulness to the root causes of your anxiety
  • Clear day-by-day guidance outlining the structure for specific mindfulness techniques
  • Simple activities designed to help you manage and decrease your anxiety symptoms

Practicing mindfulness doesn’t mean spending hours meditating. Even with a hectic schedule, finding relief from fear and worry is possible. With the practical 8-week structure presented in The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxiety you’ll quickly build the tools you need to free yourself of anxiety and live a healthy, mindful life.

Always remember, success is not attained without dreaming big. And there’s no better time to dream big than in 2020. Keep yourself accountable, do your due diligence and those “dreams” will start to become a reality sooner than you might have expected. Wishing you a stress-free 2020. Stay blessed, do well.

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Abhishek Shah

Nomad | Early Stage Investor | Wannabe Anthropologist | Technology Evangelist | Curious, Inquisitive & Experimental Entrepreneur